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Mary Lopez
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Key & Peele: Negrotown
1 2017-06-11T23:45:36-07:00 Mary Lopez f5132874726fde3743c89d09148d0810ad5a87dd 14919 1 plain 2017-06-11T23:45:36-07:00 Mary Lopez f5132874726fde3743c89d09148d0810ad5a87ddThis page is referenced by:
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2017-05-01T20:44:00-07:00
Key & Peele
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2017-06-12T17:54:30-07:00
Key & Peele's sketches are known for their creativity in blending humor and commentary, having won the socially conscious Peabody Award, honoring their work in its ability to prove how, "electronic media can teach, expand our horizons, defend the public interest or encourage empathy with others"(Peabody Awards).
Key & Peele use humor to explore a vast list of topics and issues that fabricate our culture; positively and negatively. In shedding light on the aspects of our society from the absurd to the sensitive, Key & Peele's work encourages audiences to think critically on how we identify, and see ourselves as a nation.
1. "Negrotown"This Key & Peele's sketch was released a short time after Baltimore resident Freddie Gray (25) died in police custody, making the sketch that much more pertinent. "Negrotown" employs satire to target the police brutality and the treatment of black people within law enforcement. Having the sketch open, with a black man being arrested for 'no reason', to where he is then taken by Peele to "Negrotown-- the place to be if your skin is brown". In other words, a way to escape the prejudiced treatment of Black citizens in the United States, "You won't get followed when you try to shop, you can wear a hoodie and not get shot."
2. "Pirate Chantey""Pirate Chantey" calls attention to female objectification within our society. Key & Peele execute this through having male pirates chanting about the right way to treat women and the vital importance of 'consent'. Peele points the notion of consent as being a continual problem within our society but also stresses it's importance, " I once met a lass so fine, she was drunk on barley wine, I'd been to sea for months a-three, I know I could make her mine. And the lass was past consent, so it was off with her we went. We threw her in bed and rested her head and we left because that's what gentlemen do". The rest of pirates then sing together, "A woman has a right to a drink or two without worrying what you will do". The juxtaposition of having pirates be the ones singing these rationalizations makes it all the more bizarre, leaving the representation of consent all the more cogent.
3. "Gay Wedding Advice"
This sketch is from 2014, but is still relevant for the continued ignorance in the way many people still think gay weddings are incredibly different from a straight wedding. Key's comment of saying, "A gay wedding is just like a straight wedding, it's exactly the same" directly addressing the heart of the sketch, again operating through a vehicle of absurdity.
4. "Terrorist Integration"
https://vimeo.com/75629013
Even though the alleged 'terrorist', explains he is a 'terrierist', as in Irish terrier dogs, Key & Peele use absurdity to reflect the frantic and panicked response of the way our nation tends to deal with an identity or an idea that possibly connects an individual with terrorists; regardless if the given situation says otherwise.
